Road To The Cup – Week 4 – Father’s Day

Seven boats showed up for Twilight 1-3 in what proved to be a perfect night for racing. Our report this week is from… wait for it, me. That’s right, for the first time in about 15 years, I made the beer-can scene, perhaps shamed a little by Charlie, but unable to refuse a crewing invitation from Stefan Thibodeaux, sailing David Rubin’s David Rose for his R19 skippering debut. My 420-sailing 16-year old Christopher Pandapas rounded out the team. In addition to Team Thibodeaux, three additional boats made their Twilight debuts, including Jim Taylor, Walter Colsman (sailing with son Mathew Colsman) and Team Sheldon/Sousa.

Conditions couldn’t have been nicer, with a 8-12 knot westerly, that though puffy at times, was generally well behaved, and moderated over the course of the race. That was particularly welcome news to John Casler, Jim Taylor and Steve Uhl, all of whom sailed single-handed, which was impressive. All three of those guys are ass-kickers, if you ask me.

The RC set a course out to Marblehead midchannel, a beat back to the nun off the Fort and then around the starting pin, twice around, though shortened on the final lap. Team Thibodeaux got a great jump at the start but barely led around the first mark as the fleet converged. The lead changed no fewer than 5-6 times, with the single-handed division making zero excuses or concessions. In the end, both Teams Sheldon/Sousa and Thibodeaux benefitted from a righty heading into the final mark, finishing a comfortable 1-2 in that order. Taking 3rd on the race and 1st in the single-handed division was John Casler. Honorable mentions to Steve Uhl who finished 4th and Team Colsman who took 5th. Congratulations to all.

Out on the MRA line, 13 boats shrugged off the forecast of light westerlies going to light and variable, perhaps seduced by the 12-15 we saw in the morning. Making their season debuts this week were Team Felton and Matt Hooks. Team Colsman also came out for their first Saturday.

Conditions started off well, with 10-12 out of about 345, with all of the usual shiftiness that comes with a northwesterly. The RC set up far enough out to give us a 0.8 mile track, which under those conditions was perhaps a touch long but seemed reasonable enough. The course length seemed much longer as the race progressed and the breeze died, leaving a lot of chutes draped over headstays as teams willed their boats to the finish. Suffice it to say that we only got in the one race for the second straight week.

Right paid, both due to better pressure and to a pretty meaningful righty about halfway up. That rewarded handsomely any boats that prioritized that early, which in this case included Matt Hooks and Team Taylor. Those guys led by a football field by halfway up the leg. The rest of us battled each other, getting ahead and then losing it again on the next shift or hole. This was a racecourse positioning day for sure, as small decisions (like tacking now or waiting one more minute) turned into huge mistakes that then compounded. You’d lose 4-5 places, only to gain them back on the next shift, and then lose them again, etc. It ended up being kind of a sailing version of musical chairs – where were you when the music stopped?

Matt held the lead for most of the race, but when the air shut off as they approached the finish, Team Taylor willed their boat just a little more effectively and drifted across just in front. So taking 1st and winning the day was Team Taylor and taking 2nd was Team Hooks. Congratulations to them both for having a plan and executing it. Finishing 3rd was Team Frisch/Hourihan, who sailed this week with guest skipper Bill Kaull. Honorable mentions go to Team Pandapas, who took 4th and Steve Uhl, sailing with Beanie Eisner, who finished 5th. Congratulations to all

So, in Cup competition, Team Pandapas loses a point to Team Frisch/Hourihan while Steve Uhl and Team Taylor move up a few slots. The top 10 are listed below.

1st

982

Team Pandapas

30.00

2nd

1210

Frisch / Hourihan

39.00

3rd

2585

Steve Uhl

46.00

4th

1926

Team Taylor

50.00

5th

2648

Cooke/Kaznoski

53.00

6th

2435

Larry Ehrhardt

60.00

7th

2692

Bill Heffernan

60.00

8th

2623

Team Lane / Heffernan

66.00

9th

1398

Sara Sheldon/Ann Souza

66.00

10th

2495

David Rubin

66.00

Week 5 racing will include Twilight 1-4 on Thursday night and the 2-3 races of MRA Series 1-4 this Saturday. Also on Sunday morning will be an informal (unscored) Twilight style race (see below for detail). Finally, the East Coasts are this Friday through Sunday June 22-24 in Padanaram. If you plan to go, register here.

Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt

Friday Night Fights Kick-Off –Joe Fava and the CYC ran the first of three scheduled match-racing events on Friday evening. A whole gaggle of Fleet 5 members showed up, including a redo of the Dave Perry Clinic Team Betta Beans (aka Team Fava), including Joe, Beanie Eisner and Kim & Christina Pandapas. Also sailing were Tom & Will Dailey and honorary Fleet member Tim Wadlow. Fleet members also helped run the event, including Ken Adam and Tommy Tompkins on RC. Though it looked a little light and iffy on the way out, conditions proved perfect with flat water, an 8-knot southwesterly and clear skies. Six teams, including a Pleon coaches team, participated in sort of round robin that sought to give each team a shot at most everyone else, as well as chances to enter from each side. The RC ran four flights of three races each. Courses were short WLs with chutes. To keep things fun, racers observed Dave Perry’s ‘leader waits’ protocol where boats who jumped out to good leads did a voluntary circle to let the other boat catch up. The event was not scored, though notable was that Team Betta Beans didn’t lose a race. This was more fun than you should be a aloud to have with your pants on. The next two events are scheduled for June 29 and July 6. For more info, contact Joe Fava at joseph.c.fava@gmail.com or call 617-880-9807.

Fleet Measurement – Fleet Measurer Peter Sorlien gave up his Father’s Day to measure several boats at the EYC. We’re not sure precisely which boats were measured, but the list tentatively included Tim McCaffrey, Team Cooke/Kaznoski, Jocelyn Cook, Chris & Debbie Noble and Team Cormier/Dalton. We understand that Peter plans another measurement prior to Race Week, possibly on July 15, but that’s not firm yet. Stay tuned. For more info, contact Peter at psorlien@gmail.com.

Sportsmanship Update –Another reminder that we’re tracking penalty turns this season with the intent of celebrating Corinthian sailing and doing the right thing. We neither witnessed nor heard of any on-the-water infractions this week, so a tip of the cap to all. We did, however, hear from Ken Cormier who wrote in about an incident last week. “Team Dalton/Cormier did a spin after sliding into the weather mark on 06/02/18 in Race 2. Not a boat / boat foul, but a spin.” Awesome Ken, those self-inflicted wounds often hurt the most Thanks for doing the right thing. That leaves our spin competition knotted at one between Team Rubin and Team Cormier/Dalton. Remember, if you spin, send it in.

East Coasts Byes – A reminder that boats traveling to Padanaram have the option to be scored average MRA Series 1 points by taking their bye. You can do that by notifying the MRA scorer by Friday noon here.

Sunday Morning Racing – The Town Class has generously invited us to share their Sunday morning racing with us. It’s called the CYC Cooke Town Class Sunday Series, named for long time CYC member and Town Class sailor Jim Cooke. Starts are around 10:30. You can pick up SIs at the CYC front desk. We’re told that they currently don’t yet include the R19 start, but that should be fixed by next week.

MRA Feedback – The MRA will hold its mid-season Fleet Reps meeting on Tuesday July 10th. They hold this meeting every year looking for sailor feedback on how the season is going, as well as any areas of concern for the balance of the season and for NOOD. Please send any comments to Jim Taylor (jtyd@shore.net) or Kim Pandapas (kpandapas@comcast.net).

Time to Register for Race Week – RW will be Thursday through Sunday, July 26-29. A reminder that your MRA registration fee covers the entry fee, so you don’t have to pay anything, but you do have to register. At last count, just ten boats had done that. Click these links to register and download the NOR. We’re not sure, but we think their maybe a late fee charged at some point, so do it now.

Race Week Party – Circle the date. This year’s Race Week party will be on Thursday evening July 26th, and again will be generously hosted by Jennifer & Steve Uhl at their home on Front Street. Dave Reynolds will supply the bar.

Walter Colsman mentioned that the sail he left at CYC last season (a main I think) has gone missing. If you grabbed sails from CYC, Walter asks that you check to see if you took his by accident. If so, please contact Walter at wcolsman@gmail.com.

Mail Bag

Joan Thayer wrote in with this very kind comment about last week’s RTTC. “Another fantastic read…although you stretched it a bit to include my recognition. But I do thank you. You have included something for and by everyone – top of the fleet to the newcomers, family support and the more casual Twilight racers. However, with John Casler determined to be on the race course and Jocelyn’s cheering squad from the Lighthouse, the Twilights may be gathering momentum as a spectator opportunity. Where in heaven’s name do you find the time to piece this all together. Three cheers to Kim.” Well, who am I to argue with that? Thanks Joan.

Old friend Dave Nelson wrote in to explain his absence. “I will be bringing my boat up to Marblehead after the east coasts. Since I live south, it is easier to go to east coasts first. I’ll see you all in Marblehead after the east coasts.” Can’t wait to have you back Dave.

Chris Schreiber plans to join us for RW and is looking for crew. “Getting to crunch time and I need to plan the summer–(!) Whatever THAT means. In any case, I have Chris Small’s boat available, but no crew. Guessing most of you sail with two for Race week, so crewing options are limited. Or are they?” If you’re interested, give him a shout at chris.schreiber59@gmail.com.

Nat Taylor wrote in with this comment on our Twilight coverage, “I heard John grumbling about the Twilight coverage being too dramatic, but I enjoyed it!” Hey, we just call ‘em like we seem ‘em.

Nat also sent in this comment about last week’s MRA conditions, apparently enjoying the pictures that John Casler sent in. “It’s fun to get some pics too. I thought the breeze felt solid on the first beat, but based on John’s photo I suppose we should have seen the hand writing on the wall about it crapping out.”

Finally, and on the topic of those pictures, John Casler, apparently indignant about our comment last week that he took his photos of us from a powerboat, wrote this. “The photos were taken from Bassions‘ Tartan 37, not a “powerboat.” Sorry John, we should have known better. Didn’t mean to be disparaging.

Also, in response to last week’s Twilight report comment that speculated that John Casler’s impressive hiking might be due to his fondness for strudel, John sent in a few shots from his recent travels suggesting we shouldn’t credit just the strudel. Fair enough!